DA Davidson Forecasts Weaker Earnings for Equity Bancshares

Equity Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:EQBK) – Stock analysts at DA Davidson dropped their Q4 2024 earnings estimates for shares of Equity Bancshares in a note issued to investors on Monday, December 9th. DA Davidson analyst J. Rulis now anticipates that the bank will post earnings of $0.90 per share for the quarter, down from their prior forecast of $0.93. DA Davidson currently has a “Neutral” rating and a $45.00 price target on the stock. The consensus estimate for Equity Bancshares’ current full-year earnings is $4.27 per share.

Other equities research analysts have also issued research reports about the stock. Stephens upgraded shares of Equity Bancshares from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $46.00 price target on the stock in a report on Monday, October 14th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price target on shares of Equity Bancshares from $43.00 to $48.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th.

Equity Bancshares Stock Up 1.0 %

EQBK stock opened at $47.72 on Tuesday. Equity Bancshares has a 52-week low of $30.44 and a 52-week high of $50.85. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $44.73 and its 200-day simple moving average is $40.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.78, a current ratio of 0.86 and a quick ratio of 0.86. The firm has a market capitalization of $729.64 million, a P/E ratio of 43.38 and a beta of 0.90.

Equity Bancshares (NASDAQ:EQBK) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 15th. The bank reported $1.31 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.99 by $0.32. Equity Bancshares had a net margin of 6.36% and a return on equity of 13.53%. The business had revenue of $55.35 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $55.77 million.

Institutional Trading of Equity Bancshares

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in EQBK. BNP Paribas Financial Markets grew its position in Equity Bancshares by 7.8% in the third quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 3,213 shares of the bank’s stock worth $131,000 after acquiring an additional 232 shares in the last quarter. Foundations Investment Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Equity Bancshares in the third quarter worth approximately $203,000. SG Americas Securities LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Equity Bancshares by 74.1% during the 3rd quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 5,052 shares of the bank’s stock worth $207,000 after buying an additional 2,150 shares during the period. Triune Financial Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of Equity Bancshares during the 3rd quarter worth $268,000. Finally, PDT Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of Equity Bancshares during the 3rd quarter worth $282,000. 71.80% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Equity Bancshares

In related news, Director Leon Borck acquired 1,467 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 12th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $38.77 per share, for a total transaction of $56,875.59. Following the purchase, the director now owns 11,941 shares in the company, valued at $462,952.57. This represents a 14.01 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Brad S. Elliott sold 2,300 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, September 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $42.64, for a total transaction of $98,072.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 151,979 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,480,384.56. This represents a 1.49 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 8.00% of the company’s stock.

Equity Bancshares Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, October 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 30th were paid a $0.15 dividend. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.26%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 30th. This is a positive change from Equity Bancshares’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.12. Equity Bancshares’s dividend payout ratio is currently 54.55%.

Equity Bancshares Company Profile

Equity Bancshares, Inc operates as the bank holding company for Equity Bank that provides a range of banking, mortgage banking, and financial services to individual and corporate customers. The company accepts various demand, savings, money market, and time deposits. Its loan products include commercial and industrial, commercial real estate, commercial lines of credit, working capital, term, equipment and aircraft financing, acquisition, expansion and development, borrowing base, real estate construction, homebuilder, agricultural, government guaranteed, and other loan products.